


The 'Holiday'

by Whov1an562



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-07
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2019-02-11 19:40:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 5,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12942297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whov1an562/pseuds/Whov1an562
Summary: Aubrey, Stacie, Chloe and Beca go to Aubrey's super-strict parents' house for Spring Break.ORThe fic where Aubrey's friends are there for her when she needs it





	1. Arrival

2 weeks before  
\-----------------------------------  
Aubrey created chat HOLIDAY??:)  
Aubrey added Stacie  
Aubrey added Chloe  
Aubrey added Beca

Aubrey  
Hey guys

Chloe  
Hi Bree what’s up??

Aubrey  
Sorry to bring it up so late but are you guys doing anything during spring break?

Chloe  
No

Beca  
Don’t think so

Stacie  
My sister’s away so nope :/

Aubrey  
My parents always go to our house in this little town near Orlando during spring break, but they said that I could take a few friends  
Please guys I need you for moral support

Beca  
Free holiday? Sure!

Chloe  
She doesn’t know what she’s letting herself in for

Aubrey  
Yeah…  
...thanks for saying yes without asking any questions Beca :)

Stacie  
Is your dad gonna be there

Aubrey  
...yeah

Beca  
That explains why you’re being so negative  
He’s not THAT bad is he?

Aubrey  
My parents are very...traditionalist.  
Oh, Chloe, can you make it?

Chloe  
Since it’s you Bree xxx

Stacie  
I’m in too then

Aubrey  
Thanks guys you’re the best xxxxx  
\----------------------------------------------------

2 weeks later  
“So… we’re here…” Aubrey said, with some effort showing a smile as she pulled up into her parent’s driveway.

“Wake up, Beca,” Chloe said, trying to shake Beca to wake her up. “Seriously. Get off my shoulder.

“Come on, Beca!” Aubrey said, looking at Beca, thinking about what would happen if her parents saw Beca sleeping on Chloe like they’d been married for 10 years. Beca so obviously loved Chloe, and Chloe loved Beca back, not that they were actually going out yet. But… anyone who hadn’t blatantly been told, and probably convinced as well, would believe that Beca and Chloe were a couple.

Stacie rolled up her magazine and hit Beca on the leg. “Ow! What was that for?!”

Stacie smiled sarcastically and turned back to face the windscreen. “Ready?” she asked Aubrey.

“...yeah. I think so.” They all got out the car, and proceeded to the boot, before Aubrey caught Stacie. “Stace, wait a second,” she whispered. “My parents don’t know that we’re in a relationship, because I haven’t told them.”

“Are you going to?” Stacie asked. “You’ve got to. You can’t keep it a secret from them.”

“I’ll tell them at some point this week, I just need to find the right moment. That’s all.”

Stacie nodded at her, deciding to go with it.

They grabbed their cases from the trunk, as Aubrey knocked on the door. “Hello darling,” Aubrey’s mother said taking her face between her hands and planting a big wet kiss on Aubrey’s cheek.

“Mum. Twenty. Three.”

“You’re growing up…”

Aubrey groaned in embarrassment. “Erm, mother, these are my friends. You know Chloe, and this is Stacie and Beca.”

She walked over to Chloe, and gave the mortified Chloe a kiss like she had done to Aubrey, and then she walked over to Stacie and Beca, shaking their hands. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Stacie. And you too, Rebecca.”

Beca put on a very sickly sweet smile, which Aubrey recognised to mean trouble. “Just Beca, ma’am.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Right,” Beca replied.

“JOHN,” Mrs Posen said, calling for her husband. “The girls are here. You remember Chloe, she came to stay with us two years ago. And these are Aubrey's other friends Stacie and Beca.”

“COMING,” the girls heard a voice shout. Out the door came a man who was in his early fifties, with gelled hair and a suit. “Hello, Aubrey,” he said, shaking her hand. “Chloe. Yes, I remember. The one who failed at passing school whilst Aubrey succeeded," he said, sneering slightly. “I’m Mr Posen,” he said, shaking Stacie and Beca’s hands. “Ah, yes, the one who took my daughter’s position of authority,” he said, addressing Beca.

Beca bit her lip, whilst looking at Aubrey for advice on what to say, to be returned with a shrug. Beca looked at Chloe sympathetically, as she knew the real reason that Chloe didn't graduate.

“Don’t shrug, Aubrey,” her father said, having noticed.

“Well, come through girls,” Mrs Posen said, directing the girls through the hallway, and round to the back of the house to a little room with a single bed, a blow up bed and two yoga mats on the floor. “Sorry about the squeeze, our other blow up bed broke when we tried to inflate it.

“No problem Mrs Posen,” Chloe said, smiling politely at her.

“Chloe, you take the inflatable bed, Stacie, you’re on the proper bed, and Aubrey and Beca, you two are on the floor if you don’t mind.” Beca shrugged, whilst Aubrey cringed. She knew that her parents hated shrugging. “I’ll leave you girls to unpack, before dinner,” she said, leaving the room.

“...right,” Chloe said, smiling.

“That’s easy for you to say Chloe, you’ve got the inflatable mattress,” Beca said.

“I’m really sorry if my parents are coming across as a bit… you know,” Aubrey said.

“It’s fine, Aubs. They seem nice,” Stacie said, putting on a falsely convincing face.

“Well, if you guys want to plonk your cases here and get our stuff for the night together, then we should have five minutes before supper to prepare ourselves.”

“Wait, what do you mean… prepare ourselves?” Beca asked.

“Dinner’s quite a formal event in my family.”

“Oh dear,” Beca said.


	2. Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinner at the Posen house is slightly awkward.

“No, seriously Chloe, STOP TOUCHING ME WITH THAT THING!” Beca shouted, as Chloe attacked her eyeliner with a wet wipe.

“No! Seriously. Just for tonight. You’ve made a REALLY bad first impression.

Stacie just sat there on the bed, laughing. “Come on, Stace, please, put on a dress, or at least change that t-shirt.”

“I only brought one dress, and you’re gonna make me wear that tomorrow!”

“Okay, good point.” Aubrey walked over to her wardrobe. “Try this,” she said, taking out a blouse. “Your jeans will be okay if you wear this.”

“Don’t look!” Stacie exclaimed, as she started to take off her shirt.

“Seriously?” Aubrey said.

“Good point,” she said. She couldn’t be bothered about Beca & Chloe, since the latter was staring so deeply into her best friend’s eyes as she cleaned off the eyeliner.

Aubrey stood there with the blouse ready for Stacie to slip her arms through, which she did, before she turned around to button it up. “Perfect,” Aubrey said, pressing a kiss to Stacie’s cheek.

“I feel like I’m going for, like, an interview or something,” Stacie whispered to Aubrey.

“...yeah, it’s funny you should say that. Chloe said the same thing last year.”

“It’s true, I did,” Chloe chipped in. Aubrey laughed.

“Right, is Beca ready?” Aubrey asked.

Beca turned around to reveal Chloe’s dress. “Next time, Aubrey, let me know in advance to buy a whole new wardrobe.” Aubrey laughed again. “Can we go out shopping and then grab some lunch tomorrow, killing two birds with one stone?”

“Beca’s going shopping. This really is a strange day,” Stacie said, as Chloe smiled at Beca.

They heard a gong. “Right, that means that dinner is ready,” Aubrey told them.

“Shizzle,” Beca murmured under her breath.

“Just don’t say much,” Chloe whispered in Beca’s ear. “I’ve got you covered. Just remember, fork in the left hand, and knife in the right”.

“I do eat things other than takeaways OCCASIONALLY, Chloe,” Beca said, elbowing Chloe in the side.

***

“So, Rebecca, Aubrey tells me that you’re an aspiring music producer,” Mr Posen says, asking Beca a question for the first time that night.

“Yeah, Beca’s really into that stuff,” Chloe said, answering for her.

“Sorry, Chloe, I was asking Rebecca,” Mr Posen said, cutting Chloe off.

Beca nodded, slouching slightly, as Aubrey sat on the edge of her chair, almost wishing that she hadn’t asked Beca to come along. “So, mother, how is cousin Michael?” Aubrey said, changing the subject.

“We don’t talk about that boy in this house,” her father interjected.

“Why? What happened?” Aubrey asked.

“Erm, Michael moved to Australia with his… boyfriend… last month.”

“Oh,” Aubrey said, biting on her thumb, before Chloe kicked her under the table, and frowned at her concernedly.

“Get your nail out of your mouth, Aubrey,” her mother said. “Honestly, I’ve been reminding you since you were four.

“Sorry, Mother,” Aubrey said, putting her hands in her lap, and blinking back her tears. Stacie looked at her sympathetically and linked her ankle around Aubrey’s. She could see now what Aubrey meant by ‘moral support’.


	3. Film

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls decide to watch a film.

“So your parents won’t be back ‘til midnight?” Beca asked, hopefully.

“No. The annual Barton Spring Break Event goes on until at least then every year,” Aubrey said, smiling slightly. “Right, I suggest film,” she said, going and getting out their DVD collection. “Spring Break and Christmas were the only times that I was allowed to watch films as a child,” Aubrey continued. “I’d always start with this one,” she said, holding up Father of the Bride.

Beca snorted. “Are you serious?”

“What’s wrong with it?” Aubrey asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Nothing. It’s just…”

“Wait, have you seen the film?”

“Yeah. With my dad. It’s kinda predictable but-

“I think that what Beca is TRYING to say is that there is a certain irony with the plot of the film, and the parents not accepting her partner and…”

Aubrey laughed. “Good point. I’m still watching it though,” she said, putting it into her ancient DVD player. Chloe and Beca sat on the smaller sofa, whilst Stacie stretched out her legs on the sofa, and Aubrey curled into the other side.

At the point in the film where George saw Annie for the first time in months, Stacie whispered to Aubrey “Your parents aren’t here. Why are you being so distant?”

Aubrey sighed, swivelled around and put her head on Stacie’s now crossed legs. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Stacie asked, running her fingers through Aubrey’s hair. “You can talk to me. Isn’t that the whole point of me being here?”

Aubrey sighed again, putting up her hand, which Stacie took a hold of. “I’ll tell you later,” she said. “Tired now.”

“It’s okay. Sleep. It’s been a long day,” Stacie said, kissing the back of Aubrey’s hand, and then placing it gently back on the sofa. She looked over to see if they were disturbing Beca and Chloe, but they were both fast asleep, with Beca snuggled into Chloe, who had an arm around the brunette. “I love you,” Stacie said, whispering to Aubrey.

“Love you too,” Aubrey said, gently drifting to sleep.

***

“Sit up, Aubrey,” Aubrey’s father barked at her.

“Shizzle,” Aubrey muttered under her breath.

“What just came out of your mouth, young lady?”

“Erm, nothing,” Aubrey said, panicking.

“What’s happening?” Stacie said, coming around.

“Sorry, Father. I think I fell over in my sleep,” she lied.

“You KNOW there’s no sleeping in the living room, Aubrey. It’s undignified. And… to find you, sleeping quite literally close to another person like that… I never want to see it again, Aubrey.”

Aubrey stopped to think for a minute. Had anything else happened that night? No. She looked at the sofa where Beca and Chloe had been sleeping, but they’d apparently gone to bed. “I’m going to bed now Father,” Aubrey said, her eyes brimming with tears, as she watched her Father storm out the room. She smiled a little as she felt Stacie put her arm around her as they walked through the hall into their bedroom.

Chloe had pushed her bed right up to Beca’s mat, and she had evidently let Beca sleep on the bed. Aubrey lay down on her mat, and Stacie tucked her in under it, and kissed her on the cheek. Stacie couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Aubrey was usually so strong, and very, very argumentative. It was odd to see Aubrey like this. She tucked Aubrey’s hair behind her ear and whispered “I love you” into it for the second time that night. Stacie lay in her bed for about 20 minutes, but could still hear Aubrey sniffling slightly, and she knew that she wasn’t asleep. She eventually got out of her bed, and put herself under Aubrey’s cover. “Room for one more?” she asked her. Aubrey nodded, so she put an arm over Aubrey, and for the second time that night, they fell asleep.


	4. Leg

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aubrey hurts her leg

“Morning, beautiful,” Stacie said, as Aubrey turned around to face her for the first time that morning. “How did you sleep?” she said, touching her cheek.

“Mm,” Aubrey said, smiling and staring into Stacie’s eyes, as her girlfriend wiped away the sleepy dust around her eye. “Right,” she said, sitting up. “Breakfast is at nine, then we’ll head off to the beach before lunch.

“Are breakfast and lunch as bad as dinner?” Beca mumbled.

“No, no. It’s just dinner that’s formal,” Aubrey replied.

“But do we still have to, like, talk?””

“Mm hmm.”

Beca groaned.

***

“So, Rebecca, do you have a boyfriend at college?” Aubrey’s mother asked her.

Beca groaned inwardly. The incessant questions just weren’t stopping. “No, I broke up with my boyfriend Jesse two months ago.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Aubrey’s mother said without much emotion. Gosh, Beca felt sorry for Aubrey, if this is what it had been like her whole childhood. “Erm, Rebecca, are you going to eat anything?”

Chloe could sense one of Beca’s ‘moods’ coming on, so she decided to intervene. “I’ll butter her some toast, Mrs Posen,” she said, reaching for the butter. “Eat this,” Chloe whispered.

Beca groaned and rolled her eyes. “Alright,” she said, smiling slightly.

***

They were at the beach. Chloe and Beca had gone off to swim, whilst Aubrey’s parents were chatting with some friends. “Seriously, Stacie. You know you burn.”

“Aubrey, I have a tan.”

“And you don’t want to ruin it,” Aubrey responded, grabbing her bottle of suncream and massaging it on Stacie’s back. “Right. You can do the rest. My parents are probably watching.”

Stacie narrowed an eye at Aubrey’s parents for a second, before smiling at Aubrey. “Right. Now, for that tan.”

***

The four girls were walking back from the beach, when a car drove by, and flicked a sharp stone at Aubrey’s leg. “Ouch!” she exclaimed.

“What happened?” Stacie asked, looking at Aubrey.

“Stone, leg,” she said pointing.

“How did that happen?” Chloe asked.

Aubrey shot Chloe her death stare.

“O-kay,” she responded. “Hang on, wait a second.” She looked down at her leg. “Bree, that looks pretty bad,” she said, looking down at the two trails of blood that Aubrey was trying to ignore.

“It’s okay, we’ve got a first aid kit at home,” Aubrey said.

“How come you’re being so chilled Bree?” Chloe asked her.

“I don’t have to cry. I can control myself,” she said.

“Hey. You can cry if you want to,” Stacie said, taking her hand.

“No,” Aubrey said, pulling away, limping slightly from the pain, and increasing the speed of her walk so that she was slightly ahead of the others.

“Aubrey…” Stacie cried out.

***

Aubrey was sat on the couch, with her leg outstretched on a chair. She wasn’t saying anything, just trying not to look at Chloe cleaning the amount of blood that had gone onto her leg. She finished cleaning it, and put a plaster over it. Stacie came out her room after talking to her sister. “How are you doing, Aubs?”

“Fine, thank you,” Aubrey replied coolly.

“What’s up?” she said, coming and kneeling the other side to Chloe, who was bandaging the leg, as she deemed it necessary. “Would it help if I kissed it better?” she asked, kissing Aubrey’s knee.

Aubrey smiled. “Maybe a little.”

“I’ve finished with the leg.”

“Thank you SO much, Chloe. You’re the best.” Chloe smiled back.

Stacie placed her hand on Aubrey’s knee and looked at her. “Seriously, what’s up?”

“It’s just…”

“Your parents.”

“Yeah.” She paused a little. “Especially my father. I’ve decided, by the way, not to tell them about us.”

“Wait, why?”

“I’ll wait until we’re engaged or something, then they’ll know that there’s nothing that they can do, and that they’ll have to accept it.”

“Okay,” she said, knowing that Aubrey knew when the best time was to breach it with her own parents, not that she was happy about it. “How’s that leg of yours doing?” she asked, putting an arm across Aubrey’s front and settling on her shoulder, before they heard the door click, so they both sat up and Stacie moved a little down the sofa. “Leg?”

“Oh, yeah. Better now thanks. Less...stingy.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

Aubrey looked at Stacie. “I’m sorry, Stace. I realise that this is probably turning out to be the worst Spring Break ever for you, but I want to let you know just how much I appreciate you being here,” she said, checking that her parents weren’t there before pressing a kiss to Stacie’s cheek.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Aubs. It’s the best holiday ever, because I get to spend it with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for that horribly cheesy last line.


	5. Apology

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stacie gets into an argument with Aubrey's parents.

It was supper of day 2, and Beca had bought two new dresses, and was sitting at the table during dinner very uncomfortably, much to Chloe’s amusement.

“Aubrey,” her father started.

Aubrey on the other hand was sitting very uncomfortably. “Yeah?” she said in reply.

“Don’t say ‘yeah’. It’s not polite.” Aubrey’s shoulders tensed, which Stacie knew was a bad thing, because normally her posture was excellent. “Your shoulders are hunched. It’s bad for your posture,” her father barked. Aubrey sighed and put down her shoulders. “Why were your shoulders hunched?” he interrogated coldly. “Honestly. Your manners have really decreased recently,” her father continued. “What’s the problem with you?”

Aubrey squeezed her hands together, to try and stop herself from crying, and she swallowed back, stopping herself from being sick. “Nothing,” she said, swallowing back again.

Stacie felt so angry. She couldn’t bare seeing the love of her life in such a state. “I’m sorry, Mr Posen, but I feel that if you talked to Aubrey with more respect, then she wouldn’t need to tense her shoulders like that.” Stacie felt a little bit sick as she realised what she had done.

“Stacie, it isn’t your place to comment on our family matters.”

“Erm, Mrs Posen, this chicken is lovely,” Chloe said, trying to change the subject.

***

“Aubs…” Stacie said, following her girlfriend after dinner.

“No. You don’t get to ‘Aubs’ me right now,” she said, shutting her door behind her.

“Wait,” Stacie said, opening it and then shutting it behind her. “Aubrey…”

“DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?” Aubrey said, shouting, then realising that she didn’t want her parents to hear the next bit, so she quieted her voice to a loud whisper. “If my parents LIKED you, then maybe when I introduced you as my girlfriend, then they wouldn’t turn me away!”

“Aubrey…” Stacie said, putting her head in her hands.

“No. No, Stacie, you don’t understand what position you have put me into. I really, really LOVE you. I DON’T want to stop loving you. But I also don’t want my PARENTS to not want to talk to me any more. You’re essentially making me choose, and I would pick YOU! That’s why this is a REALLY, REALLY unfair situation.”

“Calm down,” Stacie said, taking Aubrey’s upper arms.

“GET OFF ME!” Aubrey said, turning away, wrapping her arms around her body like she was closing off. “I’m gonna go find Beca and Chloe.”

She walked down the steps and into the garden by the jacuzzi, where her best friends were sitting in the garden, with Beca looking at her laptop making a mix, and Chloe reading a book, with her head on Beca’s shoulder, before she saw Aubrey coming, so she stood up and walked towards her. “Hey, Bree, what’s wrong?” Chloe asked her. “Was it dinner?” Aubrey nodded, swallowing back. She wasn’t sure what this meant - she knew perfectly well that she only started getting sick nowadays when she was at rock bottom. “Come here,” Chloe said, enveloping her best friend in a hug.

“I… I… don’t know what to do. I want to keep my family AND Stacie, and I thought that was possible until… tonight. I don’t know what to say to Stacie…”

“I know what to say,” Stacie said as Aubrey notice her come from the back of the house. “I’m really, REALLY sorry Aubrey,” she said, walking towards her girlfriend. “I love you, more than anyone, and I’m REALLY sorry that I interfered.”

“It wasn’t your place,” Aubrey said, looking at her in the eyes.

“I know. I can’t promise, but I’ll try not to do it again. It’s just that…”

“It’s just that what?”

 

“I’m fed up with the way that your parents are treating you. Your father is continually breaking you down, and I don’t want this to be the new Aubrey. I’ve barely seen you smile these last two days.”

Aubrey smiled a melancholy smile at her. “I’m smiling now,” she said wistfully.

“You know what I mean,” she said, tucking a loose piece of hair behind Aubrey’s ear. “There.”

“I love you Stace,” she said, looking deep into her girlfriend’s eyes.

“Love you too, Aubs”.

Neither of them saw Aubrey’s mother who was standing at the kitchen window, having visually witnessed the whole scene.


	6. Hair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aubrey and Stacie get ready for a party.

“So, how did it actually happen?” Aubrey’s mother asked her, whilst Stacie was taking off Aubrey’s bandage.

“A stone flicked from the road at a freak angle and cut Aubs’ leg,” she replied.

“Aubs. What a ridiculous nickname,” Mrs Posen said to Stacie. “It makes you sound like a… couple,” Aubrey’s mother said, leaving an obvious gap between “a” and “couple”, making Aubrey go very red and stressed.

“Meh,” Stacie said shrugging innocently, whilst Aubrey glared at her.

“Come ON, Stacie, please get this bandage off. I need to shower before we go to the party at the Henrick house.”

“Why do I have to go?” Stacie asked her.

“Because I said so,” Mrs Posen replied coldly.

“Sorry, Aubs, Chloe’s done a very thorough job. Wait a second… there.” She gestured to Aubrey’s shin which now had a simple plaster on, even though it was a big one. She stroked Aubrey’s knee with the other one.

“Aubrey, that plaster looks RIDICULOUS. I can’t believe that I have to take you to the Henricks’ annual gathering.”

“Oh, I could just take it off then. It doesn’t matter if I catch the scab or it opens up again.”

“Yeah,” Aubrey’s mother said, not really paying attention to her, before standing up and leaving the room.

“There’s not going to be enough time… you showered earlier right?”

“Yeah. There’ll be time. Don’t worry, Aubs. It’ll be okay,” she said, squeezing her knee and kissing it gently, and then giving her a hand up.

“Please don’t dress into something inappropriate,” Aubrey told her. “It’s a very formal event.”

“No, don’t worry. I can do formal.”

***

Aubrey came out of the ensuite bathroom wearing a blue dress, with a towel around her shoulders to stop her dress getting wet. “Do you want me to blow dry your hair?” Stacie asked her stressed girlfriend.

She shot her a grateful smile. “Thanks,” she said, going to the corner of the room where she had plugged in her hairdryer, and she began to dry Aubrey’s hair. 

Eventually, it was dry. Stacie took her spare elastic and brushed Aubrey’s hair into a low ponytail. “You look beautiful,” Stacie said, hugging her from behind. “I love you,” she whispered into the back of her head.

Aubrey smiled as she heard, and turned around. “I love you too. I’m so sorry if I got angry earlier.” Stacie smiled back at her. “I get what my mum means though about the giant plaster on my leg.”

“Does it still hurt?” Aubrey nodded. “Have you taken anything for it?” Aubrey nodded.

“Stace,” Aubrey started, holding her thumb tight. “The Henricks are like my parents’ best friends. They have a son, Quentin, and my parents have been trying to set me up with him for four years.”

“Oh,” Stacie said, her smile disappearing.

“He’s a real jerk. I hate him.”

“Ah. That’s okay then,” Stacie said laughing. “I’ll protect you though.”

“Erm, probably not a good idea. My parents would definitely disown me, especially since I don’t think they like you.”

“Harsh.” Aubrey looked at her as if to say ‘seriously?’ “Yeah, good point. I’ll try my best.”

“Thanks,” Aubrey said. “Do you have ANY idea where Beca and Chloe are?”


	7. Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Henricks' party does not go as planned.

“I swear, I’m never going to wear a dress AGAIN,” Beca whispered loudly to their friends as they approached the Henrick house.

“I have to admit, it’s weird,” Chloe replied.

“Thanks, Chlo,” Beca said, laughing.

“Erm guys,” she said pulling Beca and Chloe to the side. “No couple-y stuff tonight, PLEASE. I think my mother’s already on to me and Stacie.”

“What do you mean?” Beca asked.

“Yeah, Bree. Explain.”

“You guys look like a couple. Seriously.”

“...but, we’re not,” Chloe said, sadly, avoiding looking at Beca.

“Just… please. Any other night, PLEASE. Seriously. We’re all fed up with this constant will-they won’t-they thing that you guys have got on. But just… not tonight.”

Chloe smiled at Aubrey. “Sure.” They all started to walk in, before Chloe grabbed Aubrey’s arm. “What the hell was that Aubrey?” she whispered. “Seriously. I was getting so close.”

Aubrey rolled her eyes before walking in to catch up with her parents.

***

“You remember Quentin, don’t you?” Aubrey’s mother said, introducing her to Quentin.

“Yes, mother.”

“We used to play with our bicycles when we were younger,” Quentin said. “You always used to fall off,” he said, laughing… weirdly.

“Stacie, darling,” Aubrey’s mother started in a sickly sweet voice. “Why don’t you go and find Chloe and Beca?”

“No, it’s okay, Mrs Posen,” Stacie said, sticking firmly to Aubrey’s side.

“But I’m sure that you’d MUCH rather spend your evening with them rather than with these two.”

 

“Erm, no thank you,” Stacie said, smiling politely.

“A word please. NOW,” Aubrey’s mother said, practically dragging Stacie off to the side. “I don’t know WHAT is going on between you two girls, but you seem to have some sort of crush on my daughter. If you knew what was best for her, you would leave her alone to talk to Quentin. He is a much better match for her, and he could give her the life that she deserves. A large house. A stable future. Children.”

Stacie went red. She knew that she was not in such a good position. Since her father had died, her mother had to start working, as a cleaner in a local hotel, but it wasn’t enough to support Stacie, which is why Stacie had had to work hard at school to get her scholarship to Barden. As soon as she graduated, she would be back there, and she knew that she’d probably have to start working immediately to support her mother and her sister. “You do realise that Aubrey HAS a house, don’t you?”

“That little condo in the middle of the woods?”

“Yeah. And I CAN give her a stable future. We LOVE each other, and there wouldn’t be that kind of link between Aubrey and Quentin.”

“What would happen if you told Aubrey that you didn’t love her? What would she think about Quentin then?” Mrs Posen said, looking straight at Stacie.

“Please stop being so ridiculous. There’s no WAY I’d say ANYTHING like that,” Stacie said, turning around, and walking quickly back to Aubrey, as she turned away from Quentin, looking disgusted.

“Everything okay?” Aubrey whispered.

“Yeah,” Stacie lied.

“Right. We need to go mingle,” Aubrey said. “Please don’t leave me again,” she said, smiling at Stacie.

“Of course not.”

***

An hour and a half later of very awkward conversation, Chloe approached Aubrey, crying. “Hey, hey. Come,” Aubrey said, pulling Chloe behind a bush. “What’s going on?”

“Beca’s drunk. And, and she s-s-said that… she said she l-loved me.”

“Right. And what did you do?”

“I ran off.”

“And why did you do that?”

“She’s DRUNK, Aubrey. She’s gonna wake up tomorrow and not mean it. And I don’t wanna tell her I love her back, for her to never speak to me again!.”

“Are you CRAZY Chloe? She loves you. It’s so freaking obvious. Can you PLEASE find a quiet corner and tell her how you feel?” As she said that, Beca appeared. “Right. Talk. Now. I need to go find Stacie.” She walked out from behind the bush, and saw Stacie talking to her parents, crying, at the side of the party, and so she ran over, ignoring the various looks that she was getting. “What’s wrong?” she asked, putting her hand on Stacie’s upper arm. “Stacie.”

“Aubrey, please remove your hand. You’re making a spectacle of yourself.”

“What have you SAID to her?”

“Nothing. But, Stacie has something to tell you.”

“What?” Aubrey said, worriedly.

“No, please don’t make me do this,” Stacie said, her voice quivering.

“Do WHAT Stace?”

“Aubrey, your parents think that it would be a good idea if I don’t see you any more.”

“That’s not quite what we said,” Aubrey’s mother said sternly.

“That’s EXACTLY what you said,” Stacie said, her mascara running by this point.

“What?” Aubrey exclaimed. “This is RIDICULOUS.”

“Aubrey, just go and find Quentin.”

“I REFUSE to accept this! Mother, Father, I LOVE Stacie. And I’m not going to listen to you. Come on Stacie,” she said, grabbing Stacie’s hand and walking over to the bush behind the back of the garden.

“Erm…” Chloe said, as she broke free from Beca, as it had been quite clear that they had solved whatever problems they had been having, as they had been kissing.

“I’m sorry, Beca, Chloe, I really am, but I think we need to go.”

“Bree!” Chloe said, shooting her a death stare, before seeing Stacie. “Wait, what’s happening?”

“My parents know. They don’t want me to see Stacie any more. We need to get back to Atlanta tomorrow.”

Chloe nodded. “Should we go back to your parents’ house now?”

“Yeah.”


	8. Restlessness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aubrey wants to go home

Aubrey, Stacie, Chloe and Beca entered Aubrey’s house, with Beca being guided by Chloe. “You’re such a lightweight,” Chloe said, smiling.

“Mm,” Beca sounded, drunk-ly.

“Right, come on, let’s get inside,” Aubrey said, opening the house. Stacie seemed to have stopped crying, much to Aubrey’s relief. “Come on,” she said, taking Stacie’s hand. She paused for a second and looked at Chloe. “Congratulations, by the way,” she said as Chloe smiled back at her.

They entered their bedroom. “What’s wrong?” Beca asked, slurring slightly, looking at Chloe.

“Nothing. Just my back. It’s not looking forward to another night on the yoga mat.”

“Sleep on my bed,” Beca said, unbuttoning her dress. “Don’t want you to be uncomfy.”

“Woah, Beca. Come into the bathroom. Remember, Aubrey and Stacie are here.”

“Oh yeah,” Beca said, laughing weakly.

“You’re so gonna kill me when you’re sober,” Chloe said, guiding Beca into the en-suite.

Aubrey and Stacie were sitting on the bed. “What are we going to do?” Stacie asked Aubrey.

“We’ll get through this somehow,” Aubrey said as she kissed her girlfriend on her forehead. “We’ll get through this.”

***

Beca and Chloe were asleep curled up together on the blow-up mattress, as neither of them could agree who would have to sleep on the floor. Stacie was curled up with Aubrey between her arms on the ‘proper bed’. Neither of them were asleep, both of them afraid for Aubrey’s parents to come back, just in case one of them came in.

Eventually, Aubrey’s parents did come back, but neither of them came into their room, so after a little time, they both fell asleep.

***

“Morning,” Aubrey said, as she and Stacie both woke up by Beca waking up, asking why she was in between Chloe’s arms.

“Are you ready to go back to Atlanta?” Chloe asked Aubrey after having explained the previous night’s events to Beca, who had told Chloe that she DID mean what she said the previous night, and that she was a bit embarrassed that it had taken alcohol to tell her.

“...yeah,” Aubrey said after considering her options for a minute. “You guys should all come stay over at the Lodge, and we can try and salvage the remainder of our holiday,” she finished.

“Right, well, we’d better start packing,” Aubrey said, getting out of bed.

“Our stuff’s still in our suitcases,” Chloe told her.

“Mine too,” Stacie said. “I’ll help you pack,” she said, opening up Aubrey’s wardrobe and folding her things.

“Thank you,” Aubrey said.

***

Aubrey stepped out of her bedroom, and wandered through into her kitchen. “Good morning Aubrey,” her mother said.

“We’re going home, Mother,” Aubrey said, wincing slightly.

“Back to that retreat camp that you run?” Aubrey’s mother asked disapprovingly.

“Yeah. You obviously don’t understand me.”

“I just want what’s best for you,” she told her.

“Yeah, well maybe Stacie’s what’s best for me,” Aubrey said, storming out.

“Are you storming out?” Mrs Posen shouted after her.

“Yeah,” Aubrey said, going into her room and putting on her coat as well as grabbing her bag and her car keys.

“Come on guys,” Aubrey said, walking to the front door with her suitcase and purse.

“Erm, Aubrey, do you want to talk to your mother before we go?” Chloe said, quickly trying to tie her shoelaces.

“No. Come on!”


	9. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little conclusion :)

“So… this hasn’t been so bad,” Aubrey said with her girlfriend right next to her and her two best friends to her left, as they sat out by the lake at the Lodge at Fallen Leaves on the last day of their holiday.

“No,” Beca said, smiling to herself. As far as she was concerned, it had been the best holiday that she had ever been on. She was taking these last few moments to relax before everyone at the Bella house found out that she and Chloe were FINALLY together.

Stacie rolled to the side. She’d heard Aubrey’s phone buzz. “Aubrey, you’ve got a text.”

“Urgh,” Aubrey groaned, as she had been enjoying herself and actually letting loose for once. “Who is it?”

 

Stacie begrudgingly grabbed Aubrey’s phone from her handbag, and checked the screen. “Aubs… your mother’s texted.”

Aubrey quickly sat up in dread. “What did she say?”

“Erm…” Stacie said, swiping Aubrey’s pattern. “You’ll probably want to read it yourself.”

Aubrey put out her arm and Stacie placed the mobile into her hand. “Er, she apologised. She asked if the two of us wanted to come back for a week at the beginning of summer vacation so that we can maybe talk things out, if they haven’t scared you off.”

“Aubrey! That’s brilliant!” Stacie said, smiling. She had felt partly responsible for how Aubrey’s parents and Aubrey had left on bad terms.

“Would you come?” Aubrey asked, really hoping that the answer would be yes.

“Of course,” Stacie said, shuffling over beside Aubrey.

“Even after everything that happened?”

“Aubrey. Of course I would. If your parents don’t accept me, then that would be a problem.”

“True,” Aubrey said, laughing a little.

“But,” Chloe interrupted, “even if something goes wrong again, remember that your friends are the family that you CHOOSE.”

“Agreed,” Beca said, chipping in.

“Come on guys, group hug,” Aubrey said, tears pricking her eyes, for even if things didn’t go right with her parents during the summer, Stacie, Chloe and Beca would always be there for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the story :)


End file.
